Changed Yet Still the Same
by jassycatx33
Summary: Sequel to Adjusting to Life. Five years have passed and Katie-Marie has changed, but has she really? Rated T because I don't know there might be some violence of some sort.
1. Back Again

After so many long years, this was it. I, Katie-Marie, am finally returning to the place I call home. My friends that I had left behind, well I just hope they're still there. I left them behind almost five years ago, back when I was 13. I'm 18 now, my birthday was a few months ago. I've been packing and planning this trip ever since my birthday. Rachel, my sister, is coming with me for some reason.

Well the reason is probably because when we moved back here I feel into a sort of depression and wasn't taking care of myself so Rachel took on the role as older sister. She's still younger than me, she just acts older. I've changed so much in these five years.

I cut my hair short, that's a big thing, it's parted to the right and it's a bit longer on that side. The back and left side are cut in a pixie cut sort of fashion and my hair does this thing where it sort of poofs out. I enjoy it a lot more that I did my long hair. My fashion sense has also changed a little, I wear dresses and skirts more but that's because I perform. I'd have to say I still prefer my skinny jeans, tee shirt and hoodie, especially because it's winter. I also wear combat boots a lot now, I wear them more than anything. A black pair that go up to just about under my knee and have a lace up front and about a centimeter of a heel.

Not only that but I think I've changed personality-wise as well. I'm more shy, I tend to keep to myself more. However, I've pretty much always been like that. At the same time I'm a bit more excitable and crazy because I'm a performer now. Yeah, I perform like dancing and singing perform. I have this guy I work with, Joshua. He was the first friend I made when I moved back here and the only friend. I also adopted a cat though, a black cat with green eyes. I named her Pumpkin because it just seemed like an appropriate name. She's still really tiny, but I have to leave her here when I go to visit.

Rachel became super popular, basically the opposite of me. That's how it's always been though. Though there have been changes, I'm still the same old Katie-Marie I've always been.


	2. The Suspense is Killing Me

Yeah so I'm back again. The sequel to _Adjusting to Life_. I'm pretty happy with it so far, so I hope you enjoy~

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"Well, everything is packed. Looks like I'm ready to go!" I said joyfully, turning towards Joshua who was keeping my company while I packed. He looked like he was deep in thought about something, his dark eyebrows were furrowed and his hand was on his chin. "Hello, earth to Josh?" I said, waving my hand in front of him.

"Sorry... I was just thinking. Why don't I come with you? Just in case, you know? I don't want you driving alone." he said, his dark brown eyes staring into mine. I patted his head, his dark brown scruffy hair was something I liked to mess with.

"I'll be fine, you know that. You just want to come because you'll miss me." I said smugly, closing my suitcase and picking it up.

"While that may be true... I still think it's a valid argument for letting me come." he said, crossing his arms and pouting at me. I left my room and went into the hall.

"RACHEL, LET'S GO!" I called. "I won't even be alone, Rachel is coming with me remember?" I asked. Josh continued to pout at me. "Ugh, fine you can come if you can pack in like the next ten minutes." I stated. He blinked then ran out of the house. I shook my head at him and brought my stuff out to the car and put it in the trunk. Rachel came out of the house a couple seconds after me, on her phone texting someone.

"Put my stuff in the trunk for me, Kate?" she said, without looking up from her phone. I was going to argue but I really just wanted to hit the road so I picked up her twenty dozen bags, well that's an exaggeration but she had a lot, and put them in the trunk. I turned to walk towards Josh's house but he was already on his way back, with two bags in his hands.

"That was fast. Did you pack everything you needed?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course I did!" He replied, throwing his bags in the trunk as well. I rolled my eyes and laughed at him, he was such a loser sometimes.

"I call the backseat so I can nap!" I called, raising my hand in the air, I walked over to the car and climbed into the back seat. "You guys can discuss who is driving. Here are the directions." I added, holding up a paper with the directions on it. Josh looked at Rachel, who was still texting, and took the directions from my hand.

"Guess I'm driving." he said with a shrug. I smiled and stretched out comfortable across the back seat as Rachel climbed into the passenger's seat.

* * *

I slept for the majority of the ride because I was up anxious all the night before we left. Something about returning after so many years freaked me out because I wasn't sure how they'd feel about how I've changed. I know they'll be changed too, but I know I'll accept them anyways.

Finally, the car rolled to a stop and I heard Josh put it in park. I sat up so fast, I got dizzy for a second. I jumped out of the car, we were staying in Grammy's old house. I had called the town ahead of time to make the arrangements and such for us to stay there.

I wanted so badly to run to Zim's house, and Dib's house, and Leah's house... but I knew I had to bring my stuff inside. I opened the truck and grabbed my bags, rushing past Josh and Rachel to the house. I pulled out the key and unlocked the door, then I ran up to the room I stayed in all those years ago and threw my stuff on the floor. I unpacked as quickly as possible, putting all my things away in the closets and dressers.

Rachel poked her head into the room. "We need to go grocery shopping, Kate." she said blankly, watching me scurry about.

"Yeah I know. I just... can't you go without me?" I pleaded. She shook her head at me.

"You're picky, I need you to come and pick out the food you'll actually eat." she replied. I groaned and walked towards the door. We walked back down to the car where Josh was waiting and I climbed back into the back seat. I was just getting more and more anxious, we were here and I still hadn't seen them.

We did some grocery shopping and returned home. I helped to bring in the groceries and put them away.

"I have some unpacking to do." Rachel said simply, heading upstairs. I took out my phone, it was only 2:00 and I didn't have to make dinner until later. I ran towards the door.

"I'll be back in a bit. Josh... just make yourself at home or something." I yelled as I closed the door and ran down the street, I wasn't even sure where I was running at first. I just let my feet carry me where they wanted, and I realized they were taking me towards Zim's house.

There is was before me, the same as ever. That green and purple house with the lawn gnomes. I walked down the walkway towards the front door and lifted my hand to knock.

"Here goes nothing..." I whispered to myself and knocked loudly. My heart was beating so hard I could feel it throughout my whole body. I heard the doorknob turn and the door flung open. Gir was standing there, looking the same as ever just a bit more worn out. His eyes weren't as bright as they used to be, and he seemed a bit dented up, but other than that he seemed the same. He was so much smaller now that I've grown a bit.

"Gir? It's me... Ka-"

"KATIE!" he screamed, hugging my legs tightly.

"Oh!" I said in surprise, when he finally let go I bent down so I could hug him properly. "Oh, Gir I've missed you!" I choked out, while trying to hold back tears of joy. When I pulled back I smiled at him. "Is Zim around?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Mastah's in the lab!" he said in that same goofy little voice. I smiled and stood up, walking towards the kitchen. It had changed a little bit, now next to the toilet there was simply an elevator type thing.

"Awe, he must've outgrown the toilet." I said, smiling and walking into the elevator. Gir accompanied me and mashed some buttons and off we sped, down towards the lab. Once we reached the bottom the doors opened and Gir took my hand.

"Come on Katie, I'll take you to mastah." he said, and he began to lead me down a long path. So I followed, my heart beating loudly the whole time. I was finally going to see Zim again after all these years, and my heart could barely contain my excitement.

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I hope you enjoyed. I'm getting excited just writing this. Chapter 3 is going to be quite the something to write but I'm excited to do it. ^-^


	3. Old Friends

Three chapters in one day (or night for me) what is this madness? I got really into writing it I guess. I'm really happy with it so far and I'm proud of myself for getting back into writing it so yay. I hope you enjoy.

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Gir led me down what felt like the longest path in the work and then I saw him. Zim was moving around a figure, some sort of contraption. He definitely got taller. He seemed to have aged like a normal human, which is good. He looked the same except he was a lot taller, taller than me that's for sure.

I didn't know what to do or what to say, I stood there staring at him for a good 30 seconds before Gir piped up.

"MASTA GUESS WHO CAME HOME?!" Gir yelled, startling Zim a bit.

"Gir, what did I tell you about yelling while I'm working?" he asked, sounding a bit annoyed. His voice sounded the same, maybe a tad deeper. He seemed flustered about something.

"But..." Gir said sadly.

"Gir-" Zim started, but he finally looked towards us. He seemed shocked at first, then he looked angry, then confused. He made several different expressions before walking a bit closer. "Kat-Human?" he questioned.

"Yay, you got it right!" Gir said happily, clapping for Zim. I nodded eagerly, glad to see that he still recognized me.

"I came back, like I promised." I said with a nervous laugh, searching his face for a reaction. I opened my mouth to speak again but Zim suddenly hugged me. I was confused but happy, and I hugged him back tightly, holding back tears of joy. "I guess you're happy to see me, then?" I giggled as he let go of me. He didn't reply, he simply began to walk towards the elevator.

"Follow me Kat-Human." he said, so I followed him. We went up the elevator and out the front door. He took me all the way to another familiar house, it was Dib's. He knocked on the door, he had a bit of a smirk on his face. It was Gaz who answered the door.

"What do you want?" she asked, sounding irritated.

"I wish to see the Dib." Zim stated boldly. I rolled my eyes, I sure missed the way he worded things so weirdly. Gaz sighed with annoyance.

"Dib your weird friends are here!" she yelled. I heard footsteps and then Dib was at the door.

"What do you want Z-" he stopped mid-sentence as he noticed me standing next to Zim, who had crossed his arms and had a smug grin on his face.

"I told you Kat-Human would come back." Zim said smugly. Dib blinked and pushed Zim out of the way to hug me. I laughed and hugged him back.

"It's nice to know I was missed." I said, laughing a bit more. Dib let go after a while.

"I had no idea you were coming back... I... this is so... wow." Dib stammered. He also looked the same, just a bit taller. That little hair spikey had also grown out and somehow was a zigzag, which was both cool and annoying because how does it even do that? We stood in an awkward silence for a bit.

"I like the new hair, by the way." Dib pointed out. I smiled and reached up to brush my bang with my fingers like I did so often.

"Thanks... I missed you guys so much." I said with another laugh. "Is Leah around?" I asked, hoping to see her as well.

"She went off to college in a different state. She still comes back on her breaks, though. I'm sure you'll see her. Wait... how long are you staying?" Dib asked.

"As long as I can." I replied, looking towards the house. "I'm living in the same house. Rachel came with me, and my friend Josh." I added.

"Josh? When did you meet him?" Dib asked.

"When I moved back to my old town. He became my only friend." I said with a shrug. "I'm not good at being popular like Rachel." I said with a sigh.

"Is he... better than us?" Dib asked, sounding a bit sad.

"What? Are you insane?" I asked, turning to face them again. "No one could ever replace you guys, if that's what you're asking. He's a very good friend, but not as good as you guys." I said with a large grin on my face. This made Dib smile, too. Zim wore that same expression he always did, where he looked kind of mad about something.

"Do you guys want to come back to my house for dinner or something?" I asked, bouncing on my toes from excitement.

"Sure, I'd love to!" Dib said enthusiastically. I turned towards Zim, bouncing on my toes a bit still.

"Fine, I don't like the pathetic Earth food, though." he said dismissively. I frowned at him.

"Oh please. You've only had the nasty food around here. I make homemade meals. They're better." I stated, poking him in the arm. I took both of their hand and walked back towards my house.

Once we got there, I opened the door and led them inside. "You guys can get comfy somewhere or something. RACHEL I'M HOME!" I yelled.

"Whatever!" she called back. Josh was watching tv in the living room, but he turned around when he heard me come in.

"Oh, okay guys meet Josh my friend. Josh, this is Zim and Dib, also my friends." I said, bouncing on my toes with excitement again. "Alright, I'm going to make some dinner." I said. Dib and Zim followed me into the kitchen and sat down at the table. I smiled and shook my head at them, they must feel a bit awkward I guessed.

"I'm making spaghetti, tonight. Unfortunately, I'm feeling lazy so we'll have to use tomato sauce from a jar." I said, pulling it out of the cabinet. I put a pot of water on the stove and turned on the heat, waiting for it to boil. I sat down at the table with Dib and Zim.

"You guys are so quiet. I want to know all about what went on after I left!" I said excitedly.

"Well, we stopped hanging out and so did Leah. We all went our separate ways. I continued to study science from my dad and a bit about supernatural things. I may or may not have fallen into a sort of depression after you left and may or may not have said you were never coming back." Dib said with a nervous chuckle.

"You silly boy. Look at your hair. That's ridiculous." I said, shaking my head with a smile."How does it even... it just... how?" I asked, he laughed. "Also, your head is the right size for your body now!" I said with excitement.

"It always was!" Dib replied defensively.

"Mhm, okay, sure." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. I turned to Zim, now. "Okay, and you? What did you do?" I asked, staring at him with interest.

"Same thing I always did. Tried to think of ways to destroy this horrid planet. It was hard without my human slave to help me." he said nonchalantly.

"Oh pfft. I am not your slave! And you have Gir!" I replied, smiling at him.

"Gir isn't... you." Zim said with a shrug. I laughed at him, blushing a bit.

"You and your shrugging." I shook my head. I stood up to see the water boiling and put the spaghetti in.

"Dinner will be ready pretty soon so everyone wash up and grab a seat!" I called throughout the house. This was how I wanted things to be all the time.

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I never know how I want to end the chapter, it's so hard to decided how to end it. It's so weird. Anyways, hope you enjoyed it. Hopefully will have a chapter 4 up tomorrow or at least pretty soon.


	4. Awkward Rekindling of Friendships

I hate naming chapters it's so hard ): So yeah, I decided to post a new one of these woo hoo. Might add another tonight I have no idea. Who even reads this? Well, I'm posting them anyways lol

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I had served dinner and now we were all sitting at the small little table, some people were standing. Well it was me and Josh standing because I insisted that Zim and Dib sit because they were guests and Rachel is a princess so I knew I'd be standing. Thankfully, Josh volunteered to stand as well.

"I hope everyone liked it." I said as everyone lined up to place the dirty dishes in the sink.

"It was great! Thanks Katie." Dib said appreciatively. Rachel, who continued to text, walked by without a word. She didn't even greet Dib or Zim.

"Delicious as always, Kate." Josh said, he had eaten my cooking several times before.

"I despise human food." Zim said as he placed his dish in the sink. "But, your food is tolerable." he added, looking at me.

"Oh, you sure know how to make a girl feel better about herself." I replied sarcastically.

"Yes, yes. But you're my servant so I don't have to be nice to you." he said back.

"Oh please. You're still my friend. So you are nice to me." I said accusingly to him. He simply shrugged at me. "Loser." I said, taking his hand and leading him towards my door. I passed by Dib and grabbed him by the ear.

"Come outside with me!" I said in a sing-song kind of voice. I dragged them outside and laid down on the ground. "Remember when we did this?" I whispered as they laid on the ground next to me. We laid there staring up at the cloudy sky, always so dark and depressing. Yet I'd never been happier.

"Ya know, I really missed you." Dib said randomly, breaking the silence. I turned towards him and smiled.

"I missed you, too. Both of you." I said, glancing quickly at Zim. "I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to come back but I did and I'm so happy I did." I said. "We sure had some crazy adventures... and I almost died. I was kind of dumb back then, wasn't I?" I asked, although I was just babbling at this point.

"All of you humans are dumb in comparison to the mighty Irkens." Zim replied.

"Oh shut up, you." I said with a laugh. I sighed and sat up, looking around. "Is Leah still around?" I asked suddenly.

"She went off to college, actually. She comes back on her breaks though." Dib replied as he sat up as well.

"Oh." I said sadly, I missed her too. "Why didn't you go to college, big head? You're so smart." I asked Dib. He rolled his eyes at the 'big head' comment.

"I wanted to stay here and focus on just doing the science instead of going to college. My dad is already a professor so it feels kind of useless to go to college." he explained.

"Fair enough." I said with a shrug. It was getting pretty dark by now.

"I should probably head home. I'll see you tomorrow, though." Dib said with a smile as he stood up.

"Help me up please!" I said, sticking up my hands. He laughed and grabbed my hands, pulling me to my feet. I hugged him and smiled. "See you tomorrow then." I said. He ran home, turning back once to wave.

By this time, Zim had already gotten to his feet. I turned to him and smiled brightly.

"Kat-Human... I have to tell you something important... you remember the tallest, yes?" He asked, I nodded my head yes. "Yes, it seems they lost interest in getting me back to foodcourtia a long while back. They said they would leave me here on Earth but they don't care if I destroy it or not. They don't even care if I'm alive." he said, and he actually sounded quite sad.

"Oh... Zim I'm sorry." I said, not knowing what else to do I simply hugged him. I know how much it meant for him to be an invader and to be able to destroy Earth and win the love of the tallest and whatnot. "You... you don't need them. They're stupid if they say that. You can just stay here with me!" I said defiantly, I actually felt pretty angry towards the tallest now. Not that I could do anything but stand here and be mad at them.

"Kat-human, you're..." Zim said, but he seemed not to know how to finish the sentence.

"Listen Zim, I have something important to say, too. I know you don't care for human affection and whatnot but..."

"Hey Katie, it's getting pretty late. Aren't you tired? Oh your friend is still here..." Josh had interrupted my sentence. I sighed and looked down at the ground.

"Yeah. Yeah it's late, you're right. I'll be right in." I replied, looking back up at Zim. Josh returned inside and I sighed. "I'll... tell you tomorrow. Goodnight Zim." I said quietly, hugging him once more before retreating indoors. I went upstairs and went right to bed without another word, yet I stayed awake for hours staring at the ceiling and thinking.

The next day I woke up early, despite having stayed up pretty late the previous night. I got up and showered, I put on a cute little dress with stockings and my favorite combat boots and headed downstairs. I made some waffles and waited for my sister and Josh to wake up. I sat at the table and ate some of the waffles while listening to some music on my phone. I don't know how long I sat there alone but eventually I heard someone moving around upstairs, it was already 9:30 so I was pleased someone else was up. Suddenly there was a knock at the door that made me jump, I pulled my earbuds out and went to answer.

"Dib? What are you doing here so early?" I asked once I opened the door to see Dib standing there.

"I... well I was just excited to come see you. I mean, it's been five years..." Dib said, he sounded so awkward. I laughed and hugged him tightly.

"Okay, let's hang out today. Come in for a second I have to wait for someone else to wake up so I can let them know I'm going out." I explained, I took his hand and brought him inside. I sat down on the couch in the living room and he sat down next to me. We made small talk for a while about what town has been like for the past few years until someone came downstairs, it was Rachel.

"Oh Rachel, you're awake, good." I said, hopping up off the couch. "Dib is here, we're going out for a while okay? Um, do you know if Josh is up? I feel rude leaving him around here all the time but I need this one day for my friends okay? Alright, well I made waffles so you can go enjoy those. See you later." I rambled senselessly to my sister. I turned to Dib and took his hand, "okay, let's go." I said with a smile, and led him out of the house.

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Well I hope you enjoyed. I hope my writing has improved since Adjusting to Life, or maybe it hasn't. I don't know o.o


	5. Katie and Being Awkward

Sorry this chapter is kind of short but I really wanted to put out another tonight before I go to sleep. I hope you enjoy!

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Dib and I simply walked around town for the majority of the day, he took me to lunch and we even went to the arcade for a bit. It was really lovely, I realized how much I had missed him. "Well I guess I should head home now. It was nice seeing you again Katie." Dib said smiling as he left me at my door.

"Yeah, I really missed you Dib. I'm glad to be back here again." I said, I gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. He put his hand up and gently touched where I kissed him before turning and heading towards his house. I watched him until he was out of sight then I ran towards Zim's house.

Once I reached Zim's house I knocked lightly and waited for someone to answer. "KATIE!" I heard an enthusiastic Gir greeting as the door was flung open. I suddenly felt the cold, metal embrace of Gir and I loved it.

"Hello Gir!" I said excitedly as I hugged him back. He was significantly smaller than me now, I had come to realized, even though I hadn't really grown too much. "Is Zim around?" I asked as we released the hug.

"Mastah's in the lab." Gir replied. I smiled and patted his head before heading over to the elevator and going down to the lab. Once I reached the lab I walked down the long path and saw Zim working on something. I cleared my throat awkwardly and Zim seemed startled, he jumped and spun around.

"Hi there." I said with a tiny smile.

"Oh, it's you Kat-Human." he said, seeming relieved. "What are you doing here?" He questioned.

"Visiting my friend, dummy. The mighty invader Zim?" I said walking towards him. "I saw Dib all day and then realized I haven't seen you much since I got here." I explained. He said nothing, he simply stared at me. "Hello? Earth to Zim?" I joked, waving my hand in front of his face. "Come hang out with me!" I whined playfully.

"Mighty invaders don't have time for hanging out." he said dismissively, turning back to what he was working on.

"Oh please, not even when it's to hang out with someone they haven't seen for five years?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Nope, not even that." he replied. I let out a sigh and walked over to him, peeking over his shoulder. "What are you doing, Kat-Human?" he asked, glancing at me.

"I'm bored. I need you to entertain me."I said simply, with an innocent shrug.

"... You're not going to leave me alone until I hang out with you, are you?" he asked.

"Nope." I replied happily, knowing I broke him.

"Fine, let's go." he said, putting down whatever he was working on, some kind of alien technology type thing. I squealed with excitement and grabbed his hand, running down the path to the elevator.

We went back up into the house and towards the door. "I'll be back later, Gir." he called as I dragged him out the door.

"Okay, where should we go?" I asked him excitedly.

"You were the one who wanted to go out, I have no idea." Zim replied with a shrug. I pouted at him for a couple seconds. "Oh fine, want to go get some repulsive Earth food?" he asked. I smiled at him and nodded.

We got some dinner and went to see a movie, a really terrible movie at that. It was fun though, we were able to judge and laugh at the movie. I remembered how much I missed Zim, too. Him and Dib were so important to me. I wished I could see Leah soon but for now hanging out with Zim and Dib would be enough.

Zim was walking with me back to my house, I made him hold my hand because it brought me comfort. He was surprisingly cooperative about it, though. I wasn't sure what time it was because it was dark out. We got to my house and I stood there for a while looking at the door.

"Kat-Human, are you going to go inside?" he asked me after a minute or so. I turned to him, my brain was thinking like crazy, but I smiled and let out a small laugh.

"Um yeah, sorry. I was just... thinking. Yeah, okay I should head inside. Thanks Zim, I really missed you." I said happily, I gave him a tight hug and was surprised to have him hug back. Without thinking I kissed him on the cheek too, I had forgotten that he was Zim, and not Dib, and he might not be so okay with it. Flustered, I quickly opened the door and headed inside, "goodnight, Zim." I squeaked before closing the door.

"You were out pretty late." I heard a voice say, I was so startled I actually screamed. "Woah, calm down it's just me." Josh said, coming over to me.

"Oh, gosh you scared me." I said, smacking him playfully on the arm.

"I can tell." he said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry. I've just been hanging with my old friends. I really missed them." I explained with a grin. "Don't worry, I can show you around tomorrow or something." I said with a grin. "I'm going to head to bed though, I'm exhausted." I added.

"Oh, okay. Well goodnight." he said. I ran upstairs and headed into my room. Today was so eventful, I didn't really know how to process it.

I put on my pj's and laid down on my bed but I didn't actually fall asleep for hours because I couldn't stop thinking about everything that happened today. "What is wrong with me?" I asked myself before covering my face with my pillow and eventually falling asleep.

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Hope you enjoyed! If anyone has suggestions or anything that would be cool because I'm kind of like coming up with random things and I need to plot twist or something like I don't really know where I'm going with this story and if I run out of ideas I might just discontinue it /: Anyways, hope anyone who is reading is enjoying it!


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